William C. Alston Jr. papers
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- William C. Alston Jr.
Biographical History
During World War II, William C. Alston Jr. (1913, USA - ) served as a flight surgeon for the United States Army Medical Corps. On 17 May 1945, he visited the newly liberated Mauthausen concentration camp.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Dr. William C. Alston, Jr.
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Alston took notes of his visit to Mauthausen. In Oct 1992, he gave this material to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In approximately August 1993, Dr. Alston donated b/w photograph. In September 1993, Dr. Alston donated color slides.
Scope and Content
The William C. Alston Jr. papers consists of handwritten notes relating to the Mauthausen concentration camp, dated May 17, 1945; a booklet giving visitor directions to Mauthausen concentration camp and Gusen concentration camp; a handwritten note giving permission to visit a former Nazi concentration camp; a news article describing war-time activities of the U.S. 45th Infantry Division in Aschaffenburg, Germany; a photocopy of an American army medical corps identification card for Alston; and a photocopy of a letter from Alston sent to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993 which describes his memories of the war. Also included are photographs of Mauthausen concentration camp and colored slides.
System of Arrangement
The William C. Alston Jr. papers is arranged in a single series.
People
- Alston, William C.--Jr.
Corporate Bodies
- Mauthausen (Concentration camp)
- Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. Schutzstaffel
- United States. Army. Infantry Division, 45th
- Gusen (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives.
- Gas chambers.
- Forced labor.
- Soldiers' writings.
- Concentration camps.
- Identification cards.
- Starvation.
- Aschaffenburg (Germany)
- Medical care.
- Germany.
- Crematoriums.
Genre
- Identification documents.
- Notes.
- Document
- Photographs.
- Personal narratives.
- Slides.